Music fulfils a variety of functions today. It is used to communicate with and entertain audiences across the world. It is used as a means of social interaction, an instrument of instruction, artists use it to build inspiration for other
Opinion
The power of music extends to the capability of opening the wise musician to reflective states and philosophical meditations. In the following ones, I reflect on the virtues that the musician applies to his own life. He is in constant
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould) Piano a large keyboard musical instrument with a wooden case enclosing a soundboard and metal strings, which are struck by hammers when the keys are depressed The pianist Ivo Pogorelich is right: the piano
The expression “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” does a great disservice to teachers everywhere. In the sphere of music, teaching is often regarded as a “second best” option for those who have trained as performers, yet for
You might think that this is a crazy question. To quote Wikipedia, Hip Hop is a “stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted”. That doesn’t sound like classical music does it? Of
Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit (Ivo Pogorelich) I will never forget the first time I heard Croatian concert pianist Ivo Pogorelich live in concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The concert, in 2015, had been heavily trailed, hinting that this
The longer I live, and the more music I hear, I become further convinced that the string quartet offers the greatest musical experience. This year, I have been lucky enough to see and hear perhaps the best two string quartets
Classical Music is obsessed with greatness, especially amongst critics, audiences, and pedagogues who constantly seek to define “greatness” in musicians and composers, and there are innumerable lists, rankings and recordings of great composers and artists, concertos, symphonies et al. Schumann: